O objetivo geral da pesquisa é ranquear alguns contextos (frames) que impactam subjetivamente no julgamento de materialidade que os auditores ponderam, abordando, além da visão global das demonstrações contábeis apresentadas para asseguração, distorções materiais e não conformidades, procedimento analítico, perfil dos gestores e ambiente de controle de negócios. A pesquisa é quantitativa e qualitativa, utilizando como coleta de dados a Metodologia Q (Stephenson, 1953) e Narrativa Oral (Llewellyn, 1999). Os participantes da pesquisa são sócios, gerentes e seniores de auditoria de firmas Big 5 e sócios de firmas de pequeno porte. O instrumento de pesquisa contou com a apresentação de 27 cenários (frames) dispostos em cartões livremente ordenáveis de forma decrescente em percepção de relevância pelo participante como situações que o faria alterar a materialidade em um cliente. A coleta de dados contou com 18 entrevistas. O tratamento estatístico dos dados contou com a análise fatorial exploratória (AFE), e o tratamento qualitativo com análise interpretativa e análise por templates. A materialidade é influenciada para níveis mais conservadores em dois momentos: no planejamento de auditoria ou durante a coleta de evidências em campo, de acordo com a percepção do auditor da relevância de informações negativas. Porém, é influenciada para níveis menos conservadores apenas no planejamento de auditoria, quando há uma percepção acumulada historicamente pelo auditor sobre a efetividade dos controles internos e do bom caráter dos gestores do cliente. Para os estudos acadêmicos, esta dissertação objetiva contribuir para o aumento de pesquisas nacionais na área. Para a profissão contábil, objetiva-se refletir sobre os conhecimentos do dia a dia dos auditores em campo, visto que qualquer contador pode ser um auditor independente (CFC, 1983). Para a sociedade, objetiva-se oferecer mais informações sobre o auditor para, potencialmente, milhões de shareholders (investidores, credores, prestadores de serviço, funcionários, governo etc.) que depositam confiança nesses profissionais em suas decisões. O estudo é pioneiro na apresentação da materialidade como uma probabilidade da percepção de um risco de exposição do auditor e na compreensão dos fatores de julgamento de materialidade ex ante a entrega do relatório final de auditoria. / This research aims to to rank contexts (frames), which subjectively shall impact the judgment of materiality that auditors assess, addressing, aside from the global view on the accounting statements report for assurance, material distortions and nonconformities, analytical procedure, profile of managers and business control environment. The research is both quantitative and qualitative, using for data collection purposes the Q Methodology (Stephenson, 1953) and Oral Narrative (Llewellyn, 1999). Participants were partners, managers and senior auditors from Big 5 companies and members of small-sized enterprises. The research instrument comprised the presentation of 27 scenarios (frames) presented in cards arranged in random randomly in descending order according to how relevance was perceived by the participant as situations that would change the materiality of a client. Data collection included 18 interviews. The statistical treatment of the data included the Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) and the qualitative treatment of the information was through analysis both interpretative and by templates. Materiality is influenced at more conservative levels in two circumstances: in the audit planning or upon field evidence collection, and according to the perception by an auditor of the relevance of a negative piece of information. However, it is influenced at less conservative levels only in audit planning when there is a historically acquired perception by the auditor on the effectiveness of internal controls and concerning the good character of the client\'s managers. As for academic studies, this dissertation aims to contribute towards increasing nation wide research on the subject area. As for accounting as a profession, it aims to reflect on the daily knowledge of the auditing field, that is considering that any given accountant may be an independent auditor (CFC, 1983). To society, it aims to provide more education on the work of an auditor to potentially millions of shareholders (investors, creditors, service providers, employees, government, etc.) who depend upon the trust placed in such professionals to their decisions. The study is a pioneer in the subject regarding the presentation of the subject materiality as a probability of perception of exposion risk to an auditor and in the understanding of the factors involved in the materiality judgment ex ante to the delivery of a final audit report.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how auditors are affected by quality controls and if audit practice changes because of quality controls. To fulfill the purpose of this study there has been interviews made with five auditors. The conclusion by this study is that the interviewed auditors work practices are affected by quality controls and that the extent and effect depends on the auditor and the office that the auditor works in. The auditors who worked as quality reviewers at the agencies where they are employed at, we felt that they were more secured in the response towards quality controls. This may be because they are quality reviewers themselves and they know what the quality control requires and what must be met to be approved. One of the key elements of a quality control is feedback and suggestions for improving the next audit. This seems to be appreciated by all auditors and an important tool to help the auditors evolve in the profession. The majority of the auditors believe that mandatory education is one of the most important steps into keeping themselves updated on new standards. To summarize the result of the study we conclude that quality controls can affect the audit practice, but this comes to expression in different ways depending on the auditors experiences of quality control and what agency the auditor work in.

O objetivo geral da pesquisa é ranquear alguns contextos (frames) que impactam subjetivamente no julgamento de materialidade que os auditores ponderam, abordando, além da visão global das demonstrações contábeis apresentadas para asseguração, distorções materiais e não conformidades, procedimento analítico, perfil dos gestores e ambiente de controle de negócios. A pesquisa é quantitativa e qualitativa, utilizando como coleta de dados a Metodologia Q (Stephenson, 1953) e Narrativa Oral (Llewellyn, 1999). Os participantes da pesquisa são sócios, gerentes e seniores de auditoria de firmas Big 5 e sócios de firmas de pequeno porte. O instrumento de pesquisa contou com a apresentação de 27 cenários (frames) dispostos em cartões livremente ordenáveis de forma decrescente em percepção de relevância pelo participante como situações que o faria alterar a materialidade em um cliente. A coleta de dados contou com 18 entrevistas. O tratamento estatístico dos dados contou com a análise fatorial exploratória (AFE), e o tratamento qualitativo com análise interpretativa e análise por templates. A materialidade é influenciada para níveis mais conservadores em dois momentos: no planejamento de auditoria ou durante a coleta de evidências em campo, de acordo com a percepção do auditor da relevância de informações negativas. Porém, é influenciada para níveis menos conservadores apenas no planejamento de auditoria, quando há uma percepção acumulada historicamente pelo auditor sobre a efetividade dos controles internos e do bom caráter dos gestores do cliente. Para os estudos acadêmicos, esta dissertação objetiva contribuir para o aumento de pesquisas nacionais na área. Para a profissão contábil, objetiva-se refletir sobre os conhecimentos do dia a dia dos auditores em campo, visto que qualquer contador pode ser um auditor independente (CFC, 1983). Para a sociedade, objetiva-se oferecer mais informações sobre o auditor para, potencialmente, milhões de shareholders (investidores, credores, prestadores de serviço, funcionários, governo etc.) que depositam confiança nesses profissionais em suas decisões. O estudo é pioneiro na apresentação da materialidade como uma probabilidade da percepção de um risco de exposição do auditor e na compreensão dos fatores de julgamento de materialidade ex ante a entrega do relatório final de auditoria. / This research aims to to rank contexts (frames), which subjectively shall impact the judgment of materiality that auditors assess, addressing, aside from the global view on the accounting statements report for assurance, material distortions and nonconformities, analytical procedure, profile of managers and business control environment. The research is both quantitative and qualitative, using for data collection purposes the Q Methodology (Stephenson, 1953) and Oral Narrative (Llewellyn, 1999). Participants were partners, managers and senior auditors from Big 5 companies and members of small-sized enterprises. The research instrument comprised the presentation of 27 scenarios (frames) presented in cards arranged in random randomly in descending order according to how relevance was perceived by the participant as situations that would change the materiality of a client. Data collection included 18 interviews. The statistical treatment of the data included the Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA) and the qualitative treatment of the information was through analysis both interpretative and by templates. Materiality is influenced at more conservative levels in two circumstances: in the audit planning or upon field evidence collection, and according to the perception by an auditor of the relevance of a negative piece of information. However, it is influenced at less conservative levels only in audit planning when there is a historically acquired perception by the auditor on the effectiveness of internal controls and concerning the good character of the client\'s managers. As for academic studies, this dissertation aims to contribute towards increasing nation wide research on the subject area. As for accounting as a profession, it aims to reflect on the daily knowledge of the auditing field, that is considering that any given accountant may be an independent auditor (CFC, 1983). To society, it aims to provide more education on the work of an auditor to potentially millions of shareholders (investors, creditors, service providers, employees, government, etc.) who depend upon the trust placed in such professionals to their decisions. The study is a pioneer in the subject regarding the presentation of the subject materiality as a probability of perception of exposion risk to an auditor and in the understanding of the factors involved in the materiality judgment ex ante to the delivery of a final audit report.

Förutom standarder och riktlinjer utgör revisorns egna professionella bedömningar en stor del av hur denna bedömer väsentlighetsnivån vid en revision. Tidigare studier har funnit flertalet bakomliggande faktorer som påverkar denna bedömning. 2011 implementerades ISA i Sverige varför det finns ett intresse att undersöka vad denna standard har haft för påverkan på svenska revisorers väsentlighetsbedömning.  Studiens resultat visar att tre faktorer av de som ingår i studien kan förklara variationen i revisorers väsentlighetsbedömningar. Variablerna kön, chefspress och storlek på revisionsbyrå har i studien ett signifikant samband med variationen i bedömd väsentlighetsnivå. Att dessa olika faktorer har en påverkan på väsentlighetsbedömningen antas förklaras av bland annat olika nivåer av riskbenägenhet och revisionskvalitet. / Background: In addition to standards and guidelines, the auditor’s own professional judgment represents a big part of how the auditor assesses the materiality level for an audit. Previous studies have found a number of underlying factors that affects this assessment. In 2011, ISA was implemented in Sweden why there is an interest to investigate what impact this standard has had on the Swedish auditors' materiality judgments. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the factors that affect the auditors’ professional judgment of the overall materiality level. Method: The study is based on a deductive approach where previous research in this areais used to formulate hypotheses regarding the factors that may affect auditors in their materiality judgment. Quantitative data is collected in the form of primary data through a survey. Furthermore, one experienced auditor is interviewed. Conclusion: The results show that the variables Gender, Pressure from management and Firm size can explain variations in different auditors' materiality judgments. These factors impact on the materiality assessment is assumed to be caused by, among other things, different levels of risk propensity and audit quality.

Background: There is an increased demand for professions in sustainability assurance due to the forthcoming directives of CSRD coming in 2024. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge of what a sustainability auditor does to build audit comfort and ensure audit quality in a sustainability report. Therefore, it is important to devote time and attention to this developing industry as studies have found issues in reporting on sustainability.    Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to get a better understanding of how sustainability auditors may build their comfort in sustainability auditing despite its complexity, and variability and that they are challenging to fully comprehend due to a lack in standardization. This study aims to extend existing research by contributing with a deeper theoretical and empirical knowledge of sustainability auditing, based on structure as well as professional judgment.    Methodology: An explanatory purpose and an abductive approach have been applied to the method. The study is based on a qualitative research method as nine interviews have been conducted in a narratively and semi-structured way. These interviews, together with one participant observation have formed the empirics.    Conclusion: The thesis builds an understanding of the comfort theory in combination with sustainability assurance in the comparatively new area of practice within auditing. The findings show that the sustainability auditors find comfort in a combined use of professional judgment and structure, but today the professional judgment is mainly used to conduct the audit comfort because of the lack of structure.

Submitted by Leonardo Barcellos (lpbarcellos@gmail.com) on 2017-06-20T00:02:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Final version - Dissertation paper - Leonardo Barcellos.pdf: 2615722 bytes, checksum: c5b3c3f34e1c9b8347aec530d34e7f74 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2017-06-21T16:00:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Final version - Dissertation paper - Leonardo Barcellos.pdf: 2615722 bytes, checksum: c5b3c3f34e1c9b8347aec530d34e7f74 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-05T12:25:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Final version - Dissertation paper - Leonardo Barcellos.pdf: 2615722 bytes, checksum: c5b3c3f34e1c9b8347aec530d34e7f74 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-07 / This dissertation paper gathers three studies on the relationship between accounting practice and certified public accountants’ (CPAs) cognitive reflection abilities (CR-ability). The first chapter summarizes the three studies, presenting contextual information about how the research ideas and identification strategies relate to my doctoral studies. The study in the second chapter maps Brazilian CPAs’ CR-abilities to demographic characteristics, providing not only the foundational insights for the studies in the next chapters but also evidence that male and younger CPAs tend to present higher CR-abilities than female and older CPAs, as well as that employer firm size may determine CR-abilities of preparers and managers. The study in the third chapter applies a quasi-experimental approach to examine whether auditing practice is more likely to prevent CR-abilities decline than financial reports elaboration practice. The paper explores the unique counterfactual opportunity provided by the accounting setting to find that aging leads human beings to adapt information processing strategies towards Type 1 of reasoning in detriment of Type 2. But auditing practice may curb this trend. These findings make several contributions to psychology and accounting fields. The paper in the fourth chapter examines the influence of stable CPAs’ individual characteristics, i.e., CR-ability and professional experience in pressured firms, on the professional judgments behind the recognition of assets and cash flows arising from audiovisual content (AV-content). The findings suggest that CR-ability drives differential AV-content assets and cash flows classification at recognition and, ultimately, incomparable financial statements, but professional experience in pressured firms is likely to refrain such differences in the case of assets. Finally, I present my concluding remarks in the fifth chapter.

Genom åren har det skett en rad företagsskandaler som kopplats samman med brister i revisionen. För att undvika liknande skandaler i framtiden har ökade krav i lagstiftning och uppdatering av standarder för revisionsarbete införts. Med hjälp av regelbundna kontroller ska revisionen hålla hög kvalitet och brister ska upptäckas tidigare. Tidigare forskning har visat att det ofta är i revisionsdokumentationen som brister förekommer.Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka revisorers uppfattningar om vilka faktorer som orsakar att brister uppstår i revisionsdokumentationen. För att uppfylla syftet har intervjuer gjorts med tio revisorer som arbetar på olika revisionsbyråer i Skåne. Det teoretiska ramverket presenteras i en figur som visar min tolkning av hur olika faktorer påverkar revisionsdokumentationen.Slutsatsen av studien visar att revisorns uppfattningar om regleringen, revisorns yrkesroll och revisionsbyrån är faktorer som kan medföra att brister uppstår i revisionsdokumentationen, vilket många gånger kan relateras till tidsbrist hos revisorn. Det moment i revisionsprocessen som rör bedömningar om vad som är väsentlig information kan även medföra brister i revisionsdokumentationen. Detta eftersom revisorer kan tolka och bedöma olika, vilket avspeglar sig i vilken information varje revisor anser vara väsentlig information att ta med i revisionsdokumentationen. Detta kan sin tur leda till att alla revisorer inte får med vad som krävs enligt lag och standard.Som förslag på framtida forskning ska en undersökning göras på hur många uppdrag som är optimalt för en revisor att revidera per år. / Over the years there have been several corporate scandals, which have been linked to shortcomings in the auditing. In order to avoid similar scandals in the future, increased requirements for law and standards have been introduced. With the help of regular quality controls, the audit should maintain high quality and shortcomings should be discovered earlier. Previous research shows that it is often in the audit documentation that deficiencies occur.The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that cause shortcomings in the audit documentation. In order to fulfil the purpose of the paper, interviews have been conducted with ten auditors from various audit firms in Skåne. The theoretical framework is based on a model that shows my understanding of how different factors affect the audit documentation.The conclusion of the study shows that the auditor's perceptions of the regulation, the auditor’s professional role and the audit firm structure are factors that may cause shortcomings in the audit documentation, which can often be related to the lack of time in the process of auditing. The moment in the audit process regarding assessments of essential information may cause shortcomings in the audit documentation. This is because auditors can interpret and assess differently, which reflects what information each auditor considers to be essential information to include in the audit documentation. This in turn can lead to the fact that all auditors do not include what law and standard require.As a proposal for future research, a study should be made in order to determine how many assignments are optimal for an auditor to audit per year, with regards to the time aspect in relation to the documentation requirements.

Abstract Purpose: The primary goal of this thesis is to provide a deeper understanding of how big data affect professional judgment, audit efficiency, and perceived audit quality. It also aims to explore the effect of Big Data Analytics (BDA) on the skills and competence required by auditors to perform an audit in a big data environment. Theoretical perspectives: Theoretical concepts base on previous research and publications by practitioners and regulators on BDA, professional judgment, audit efficiency, and audit quality. Literature was used to derive the research gap and research questions. Methodology: A qualitative method base exploratory approach. A literature review was conducted to uncover areas of interest that require more research. The effect of data analytics on the audit was identified as a potential area for research; a focus on audit quality was chosen, including key factors that contribute to overall audit quality. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with auditors from big four audit firms in Sweden. Empirical foundation: Empirical evidence was generated through an interview with seven auditors at different levels of the professional hierarchy. Empirical data was analyzed using a thematic data analysis approach. Conclusions: The findings of this research show that using BDA in the audit methodology affect the required skills and competence by auditors to carry out audit engagement activities. More IT related skills and knowledge gaining prominent in the audit field. Implementing data analytics will not be efficient in the early stage but will save time as auditors become more familiar with the tools. Data analytics improve audit quality. Auditors use analytics to gain more insight into the client’s business and communicate such insights to clients. It was found that data analytics generate fact-based audit evidence. The visualization ability enables auditors to visualize and analyze audit evidence to guide their professional judgment and decision making. Key words: Big data, Data analytics, Auditors skills and competence, Audit process, Audit efficiency, Audit quality and Professional judgment.

Introduktion Lån- och kreditgivning är en väsentlig del av dagens samhällsekonomi både när det gäller privatpersoner och företag. Om bankerna är för restriktiva till företagskreditgivning riskerar den ekonomiska tillväxten att påverkas. Vidare anses affärsbankerna ha blivit mindre riskvilliga. Det är en problematisk trend och faktum är att företag inte heller kan vara säker på att man får en objektiv bedömning av sin kreditansökan, då kreditgivares resonemang spelar en avgörande roll i kreditbedömningen. Bankens strukturella riktlinjer som kreditgivare ska förhålla sig till påverkar också hur banktjänstemännen fattar kreditbeslut. Syfte Studiens syfte är att utforska banktjänstemäns kreditbedömning samt dennas förankring i bankens struktur kontra tjänstemannens professionella bedömning. Metod Studien genomförs med en deduktiv ansats och kvalitativ metod. Empiriinsamlingen är baserad på semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Slutsats Studiens resultat visar att kreditgivare har ett stort utrymme när det kommer till den individuella bedömningen av en kreditsökande. Där bankens hjälpmedel slutar börjar det en tydlig individuell bedömningsfråga, om hur man väljer att gå vidare och vad man väljer att prioritera. Av empiriinsamlingen framgick det tydligt att 5C-modellen var en stor del av kreditbedömningen hos alla respondenter. Det mest intressanta var hur mycket samtliga respondenter betonade vikten av det personliga mötet med kunden och dess påverkan i kreditbedömningen. / Introduction Loan and credit is an essential part of today’s economy, both in term of private individuals and corporates. If the banks are too restrictive for corporate credit, the economic growth risks being affected. Furthermore, the banks are considered to be less willing to take risk. This is a problematic trend and the fact is that corporates cannot be sure that they get an objective assessment of their credit application. Thus, a creditors’ reasoning in their assessment plays a crucial role in a credit application. The bank´s structural guidelines that creditors must relate to also affect how the bank officials make credit decisions. Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore the bank official's credit assessment and its anchoring in the bank's structure versus the official's professional judgement. Method: The study is conducted with a deductive approach and qualitative method. The empirical collection is based on semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: The result of the study show that creditors have a considerable amount of space when it comes to the individual assessment of a credit applicant. Where the bank’s assistive tools end, a clear individual assessment begins, about how to choose to continue ahead. It becomes clear that the 5C model was a large part of the credit assessment of all respondents. The most important component of the five Cs is the capacity of repayment, as it is the one that generates revenue for the bank. What we consider to be the most interesting were how much all respondents emphasized the importance of the personal meeting and its impact on the credit decision.

Bakgrund: International Standards on Auditing (ISA) är en uppsättning med 36 standarder som svenska revisorer har att förhålla sig till vid revision av företag. En av dessa, ISA 540, genomgick nyligen en omarbetning, och den nya versionen är tillämplig för räkenskapsperioder som startade 15 december 2019 och senare. Standarden hanterar revision av uppskattningar i redovisningen, ett område som innebär en växande utmaning för revisorer. Standardsättaren menar att den nya standarden innebär utökade krav och mer detaljerad vägledning kring revision av uppskattningar med syfte att höja revisionskvaliteten. Det finns dock tidigare forskning som visar på att utökad reglering inte självklart leder till förbättrad revisionskvalitet. Det har också funnits en oro från berörda att standardändringen skulle generera i en ökad arbetsbörda som inte vägs upp av de positiva effekterna. Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen är att förklara om ISA 540 (omarbetad) har påverkat revisorers arbetssätt och arbetsbörda. Undersökningen ämnar också att utifrån revisorers upplevelse av den nya standardens konsekvenser dra slutsatser kring påverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Metod: En kvantitativ undersökningsmetod har använts för att kunna dra generella slutsatser kring resultatet. Insamling av data gjordes med hjälp av enkäter för att fånga revisorers upplevelse av den nya standardens påverkan på deras arbete. Hypotesprövning har sedan genomförts med hjälp av teckentest. Slutsats: Slutsatsen är att revision av uppskattningar är ett arbete som blivit mer standardiserat och innebär en högre arbetsbörda för revisorer på grund av ISA 540 (omarbetad). Samtidigt har standarden lett till en förbättring av revisionskvaliteten. Utifrån diskussionen i tidigare studier var detta resultat inte att förvänta, då mer standardiserade processer har kritiserats för att hämma professionellt omdöme vilket i själva verket sägs vara det som förbättrar revisionskvaliteten. / Background: International standards on auditing (ISA) is a set of 36 standards that Swedish auditors have to adhere to when auditing companies. One of these, ISA 540, was recently revised, and the new version is applicable for accounting periods starting December 15, 2019 and later. The standard deals with the audit of estimates, an area that poses a growing challenge for auditors. The standard setter claims that the new standard entails increased requirements and more detailed guidance on auditing estimates with the aim of raising the quality of audits. However, there is previous research that shows that increased regulation does not obviously lead to improved audit quality. There has also been a concern from relevant bodies that the revised standard would generate an increased workload that is not offset by the positive effects. Purpose: The purpose of the report is to explain whether ISA 540 (revised) has affected auditors' working methods and workload. The survey also intends to draw conclusions about the impact on the quality of audits based on auditors' experience of the consequences of the revised standard. Methods: A quantitative method has been used to be able to draw general conclusions about the results. Data was collected using surveys to capture auditors' experience of the revised standard's impact on their work. Sign tests were then performed in order to test the hypothesis of the report. Conclusion: The conclusion is that auditing estimates is a work that has become more standardized and entails a higher workload for auditors due to ISA 540 (revised). At the same time, the standard has led to an improvement in audit quality. Based on the discussion in previous studies, this result was not to be expected, as more standardized processes have been criticized for inhibiting professional judgment, which in fact is said to be what improves the audit quality.